Rohit Sharma ‘Ready’ For Full-Time Captaincy When Opportunity Knocks

Under the leadership of stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma, Team India retained the Asia Cup with a three-wicket win off the last ball against a fighting Bangladesh, who were anchored by a maiden hundred from opener Liton Das in Dubai on Friday. Rohit’s captaincy has been quite impressive and the opening batsman made it clear that whenever the opportunity comes along, he would be “ready” for full-time captaincy. “Definitely. We have just won so I will surely be ready (for captaincy). Whenever the opportunity comes, I will be ready,” a smiling Rohit told reporters after India’ Asia Cup triumph.

“It’s a challenge for any team when few of your senior players are rested. Obviously they will make a comeback and few of the guys have to miss out. Every team is doing that and also guys understand that.

“It’s up to them whenever they get an opportunity they make it big and make it count but for us – myself as a captain and our coach, we have to make sure that they have the liberty to go out and play their game without feeling any pressure,” said Rohit.

“I understand the dynamics of this team, how we play our cricket and how we want to go forward as a team. I think in this tournament we have ticked all the boxes,” Rohit looked satisfied after accomplishing his task.

Under Rohit, India have won two close multi-nation tournaments – the T20 tri-nation in Sri Lanka and now the Asia Cup 50-over tournament.

A three-time IPL winning captain of Mumbai Indians, Rohit was asked if he is ready for a long-term leadership role in future.

There are challenges of a stand-in captain, Rohit admitted, adding that the main objective is to allow players to play freely without thinking about their places in the team.

Rohit made it clear that his philosophy of leadership is to help players shed insecurities while playing for the country. He in fact assured the likes of Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik that they will be playing all games.

“When we came here, I wanted to give them the assurance that they will be playing all games. That’s how you make players. If you know after two games you are going to get dropped, it’s not easy for any player.

“I wanted to give everybody a fair run and play more games. That’s how you understand a player’s capabilities. One odd game, you can’t judge a player,” said Rohit

He agreed that No’s 4 and 6 are still not settled and the picture would be clearer closer to the World Cup.

“Numbers four and six need to get more games as the World Cup comes closer. Right now is not the time. Come the World Cup, we will get a clearer picture. The next few tournaments, that will be ideal for us to judge as management where they stand as players.

Rohit was more happy with the fact that a young team achieved so much.

“It was very young team that we brought here. Not many boys had the experience of playing in these conditions. It was hot. It wasn’t easy for the boys to adapt because they had come from England. It was very important to get used to the conditions.

“But I think overall, our preparation for this tournament was good. Seven-eight guys came here early while the other boys from England landed here a day before the tournament,” said the skipper.

Fitness was an issue in gruelling conditions, admitted Rohit.

“The message was to focus on the fitness because we haven’t played in conditions like this before. I think this was a big challenge for us. The conditions here were quite slow and there was help for the slow bowlers.

“Even today, if you see, the way Bangladesh started in the first 10-15 overs and after that the way our spinners brought us back in the game. Our spinners’ performance in the last six-eight months has been consistent. It’s been a positive sign.”